A month ago, there would have been quite a few more vehicles on this section of US 60 west of town. These days, however, the traffic is lighter because the so-called ’snow birds’ are vacating town to head back to various points north now that the weather is thawing out there.

The presence of our winter residents is a mixed-blessing-and-curse sort of a deal in that the town’s revenues benefit from the added population, but the added traffic on the roads and in the stores is sort of a pain-in-the-butt. Admittedly, the contrast between winter traffic here and the all-year traffic in Los Angeles County makes us look tame in comparison, but having experienced a couple of summers here makes us yearn for the sleepy peacefulness of June through September.